Tag: mend

Washer’s album Here Comes Washer has one of the strongest opening tracks I’ve ever heard. “Eyelids” grabbed my attention within about three notes when I first heard it, and I knew immediately that I would be listening to this band for a long time.

Despite loving the first song, I was still shocked when every song that followed it turned out to be completely solid and memorable in its own way. It’s almost ridiculous how good this whole album is. The guitar riffs, the drums, the vocals, and the lyrics themselves are all just unbelievably good.

“Eyelids” starts the album with a very simple riff that is repeated over and over. It is haunting and steady as it plays behind the disturbing delivery of the vocals. The sound of the ride cymbal is also very distinct and carries the guitar riff along seamlessly into its brief, fuzz-filled interludes.

It feels kind of arbitrary to talk only about a few of the songs since they are all worthy of discussion, but I definitely want to talk about “Porky” as well. The lyrics are what stand out to me the most in this song and here they are in their entirety:

got away for a long week in fall/and I know it’s you/couldn’t take it, my day-to-day/but I know I know it’s true/if you’d ask me to I would/move far away ‘cause/I hate this place when I’m not with you/it’s contagious/this fear of missing out/well fuck that I’m through/if you’d ask me to I would

There’s a lot to relate to in these lyrics, and the way they are delivered is amazing. Not being able to take the day-to-day and wanting to move far away are both frequently discussed subjects in songs, but this song is about a specific, personal crisis, and the desperation comes across clearly in the words and in the delivery of them.

“Figure Me Out” is similar in that respect. It begins with the lines “can you figure me out?/I’ve been thinking about you/do you scream and shout?/would it split you in two?” This is followed by the single line “I don’t wanna know” and then the lines “feel like I’m getting old/do what you’re told to do/I am bought and sold/and every trick is tried and true.” “I don’t wanna die” is then sung multiple times afterwards. These are very personal lyrics, yet I can relate to them simply because specific parts stand out to me.

There is also a “you” who is often addressed in these songs, and it seems like the speaker and this person are in a complicated relationship in which they are still getting to know one another. These songs do not come across as typical songs about love though because they are about so much more than that. They deal with other emotions that can get mixed in with love as well such as wanting to leave one’s current situation and even the general fear of death.

Washer takes these inner crises that many people have and can relate to and describes them in an interesting way. Sometimes the vocals are screamed, but they are never delivered in a trite manner as is the truth with the vocals that are sung more melodically. To be able to discuss common emotions and predicaments in new, interesting ways is a skill deserving of great praise.

If you don’t already know them, it is very likely that Washer is that new band you’ve been looking for.

-Sean

wikiart.org/images/francisco-goya/

steady business in a time of corporatized nostalgiabe sure the thoughts that close your throat were never theirs but are your own

In a world where the Oxford-Dictionary has just named “post-truth” as the international word of the year and an orange-Cheeto-dust-frosted-reality-TV-star-billionaire has become President-Elect in the most powerful country on Earth; Washer us asks how to carve out a sliver of meaning in a world full of endless contradictions and seeming hopelessness.

In the Internet-age a person’s attention span is the most important commodity. Appeals to primal instincts and base emotions drive the economy. Facts and creativity do not. Imagination is no longer something inherent; it is something that must be bought.

it’s a tight rope to walkto validate yourself and not fall prey to someone’s monetary demands

goes the final verse of “Pet Rock vs. Healing Crystal” reminding us of the near impossibility of the artist to maintain their personal integrity without becoming a commodity. However this sort of introspection also befalls the common man who must also sell a part of his soul into bondage with various corporations; whether it be for a job, shelter or food in order to participate in the so-called “American Dream.”

“Mend” and “Figure Me Out” were the two songs that struck me upon my initial listen. Anxiety fueled self-delusion and the incessant questioning of one’s own mortality is a sobering thought. Whatever the state of your mental health, Here Comes Washer is one of 2016’s best albums, and I know, I certainly don’t wanna die; not at least until the next Washer album comes out.